Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry FROM OUR EDITORS
When sophisticated travelers get together to discuss ever more exotic destinations, the name "Molvania" often comes up. Not even John McPhee or Jan Morris can claim to have visited this small, remote Eastern European nation, the birthplace of the polka and whooping cough. How would they even get there? Fortunately, this definitive Jetlag Travel Guide offers everything a curious tourist will need to prepare for encounters with the Molvanians. With winning insincerity, the authors describe the fascinating complexities of the native language: "Molvanian is a difficult language to speak, let alone master. There are four genders: male, female, neutral, and the collective noun for cheeses, which occupies a nominative subsection all its very own."
FROM THE CRITICS
Neil Genzlinger - The New York Times
The idea here -- a fake travel guide to a nonexistent country, looking and reading like a Frommer's -- may seem like a one-joke gimmick, but the execution, by a trio of Australian satirists, is sublimely brilliant. Yes, it rides on East European stereotypes (Gypsies especially come off poorly), but the parody of effete travel writing is what really makes it work.
The New Yorker
The Republic of Molvania, known as the birthplace of whooping cough and the Molvanian Sneezing Hound, has been largely ignored by the backpacking set in its sweep through post-Communist Europe. This may have something to do with the country’s miserable landscape, miserable weather, miserable food, and miserable, surly populace; on the other hand, it may have something to do with the fact that Molvania doesn’t exist. In format and page layout, this inspired send-up of a travel guide looks exactly like the real thing, and it displays an acute feel for all the clichés of the genre, including testimonials that instruct how to have an uncomfortable “authentic” experience, rather than a “bland, westernized” one. The nation’s new national anthem is set to the tune of “What a Feeling,” from the movie “Flashdance”; useful phrases include the Molvanîan for “Please,” “Thank you,” “May God send you a sturdy donkey,” and “What is that smell?”
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